1. Field of Invention
Infant, baby, or "kiddie" walkers; such apparatus having improved safety features; such apparatus wherein safety features are provided in the form of a track and associated means on said baby walker for movably securing said baby walker thereto and thereby limiting the ambit of operation of the baby walker by its occupant without interfering with the acceptability or efficiency of such device.
2. Prior Art
Infant or baby walkers have been with us as long as the combination of babies, seats, and wheels have been available, and perhaps even before wheels. The concept of facilitating leg development while simultaneously somewhat restraining the child by means of such apparatus is uniformly recognized. Countless forms and modifications of baby walkers are presently available on the market and numerous versions have been patented. As representative may be mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 368,477 from 1887, 592,569 from 1897, 671,058 from 1901, 1,297,018 from 1919, 1,437,179 from 1922, and more recently U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,308,626, 2,352,450, 2,505,310, 2,746,517, 2,890,741, and 3,049,350. The desirability of incorporating safety features into devices of the class described has also been recognized. Representative patents in the field based upon the concept of improved safety include all of the foregoing plus British No. 1,166,856, published in 1969.
Fundamental to the concern of all parents or baby-tenders is the fear that a child in a baby walker will escape attention or supervision for a period sufficiently lengthy to enable the child to encounter objects, such as a protrusion, overhang, steps, or stairs, whereby serious physical damage could be and sometimes is caused to the child. One possible solution is to circumscribe the area of activity of the toddler in the baby walker and this problem has been solved to a greater or lesser extent by close supervision, clearing of a certain area for use by the toddler in the baby walker, or otherwise, such as by a restraining rope or cord, central standard plus grooved track, tether, or anchor, as indicated in the foregoing U.S. Patents, but to date no really efficient and satisfactory solution has been provided. The present invention addresses the circumscription of the ambit of operation of a baby walker by the occupant thereof in a most efficient and advantageous manner which has proved highly satisfactory, safe, and efficient in practice and whereby the long-felt needs of the prior art have been fulfilled and the shortcomings of the prior art overcome.